Businesses should consider taking an active role in helping their employees obtain child care, according to a report released this week by the UNLV-based Nevada Institute for Children.

That could be done in a variety of ways, including establishing an on-site day care center, joining with other businesses in the area to create a child care center at a mutually convenient location, or partially subsidizing their employees' day care costs at outside centers, according to the study prepared for the state department of human resources.

"A growing number of business executives are realizing that when their companies become involved in helping employees find safe, high-quality child care situations, everyone benefits," said former Nevada first lady Sandy Miller, who chairs the NIC oversight board. "Certainly the children benefit. The parents benefit by knowing that their children are well cared for, and the employers benefit by having employees who are on the job and able to focus on their work rather than worrying about their children.

"This report is intended to encourage more employers to become involved in child care," Miller said. "It provides a wide variety of real-life examples of how companies have become successfully involved. We're hoping that other companies will discover models that they can adopt or perhaps modify to fit the needs of their particular situations."

According to the study, companies that are involved in helping their employees obtain quality day care report that while it does mean spending money, it also pays off for the company in terms of reduced absenteeism and increased employee loyalty and satisfaction. Additionally, it can serve as a valuable recruiting tool when the companies seek new employees.

One of the examples sited in the report is Las Vegas' own Citibank, which provides an on-site child care center for 166 children. The company contracts with an outside firm, Bright Horizons, to run the center. Citibank charges an average of $70 per week per child, which is about 30 percent lower than the cost of outside care, according to the report. Citibank subsidizes the difference.

Another local example of a company becoming involved in child care is Mirage Resorts Inc. It provides a pre-tax child care savings plan as part of its employee benefits package and offers employees discounts ranging from free registration up to 15 percent off weekly tuition at local day care centers.

"There is a short-term and long-term view that can be taken in this situation," said Jim Frey, dean of UNLV's College of Liberal Arts. "In the first case a company may have to make a sizeable investment in a facility and personnel, but in the long run that investment is returned in the form of higher productivity, lowered absenteeism or tardiness, and a more satisfied and less stressed work force.

"Companies should at least begin talking about the problem, and they could start with this report and the resources of UNLV's Nevada Institute for Children," Frey said.

Among the other examples cited in the report are:

-- Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Ky. The company operates an on-site 24-hour-a-day child care center for 230 children ages six weeks to 13 years.

-- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston. The authority has developed a Reserved Slot Child Care Program for employees' children ages two months to 12 years. Through the program the authority contracts with 32 licensed child care centers in 23 communities. The authority also offers tuition subsidies on a sliding-scale basis for families participating in the program.

-- Bay Area Emergency Care Consortium in the San Francisco area. A group of seven companies launched this program designed to provide emergency in-home child care and elder care to approximately 2,000 employees. The service, which was either fully or partially subsidized by the employers, was available 24-hours a day, year-round when employees' usual care arrangements fell through. Employees called an 800 number and within four hours, qualified, pre-screened care-givers were dispatched to their homes. The program served healthy or mildly ill infants, school-age children, and elders in six counties and was administered by Care-Givers on Call. At least four of the original companies still receive back-up emergency care through Care-Givers on Call.

For additional information on the report, contact the Nevada Institute for Children at 895-1040.